


More Than A Dream

by AndieAras26



Series: Grampa Legend [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst?, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Happy Ending, Hopeful Ending, I'm also tagging Sky because he took more spotlight than I originally planned lol, LITERALLY, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), just a little bit, no beta we die like foreign illiterates, the rest of the Links are also present, this is an au i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:13:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26379382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndieAras26/pseuds/AndieAras26
Summary: What if Legend wasn't the only one to wake up after Koholint? What if not everything was a figment of the imagination? The Wind Fish is a powerful spirit, his dreams crossing unexpected boundries. Legend has no hope of recovering what he lost in that faithful island, but what he lost has been closer than he ever expected.
Relationships: Legend (Linked Universe)/Marin (Legend of Zelda), Link/Marin (Legend of Zelda)
Series: Grampa Legend [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2142381
Comments: 46
Kudos: 150





	More Than A Dream

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Here's little ficlet I just couldn't get out of my head. Sorry for not updating TIOOT yet, I'm working on it, the ending is fighting with me a lot. Anyways, I hope ya'll enjoy.

Legend was walking in the middle of the group of heroes when the familiar feeling of shifting hit him, the world turning into a mix of color around him as they were transported to a new location. They had already been on Twilight’s Hyrule for a week and dealt with the threat of rampaging aeralfos, so the change of worlds came to no surprise. That didn’t stop his stomach from twisting and flipping on itself while the change happened. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as the world stopped turning. 

Even with his eyes closed he could easily tell the change in lightning, the sun beaming over his head. The salty breeze ruffled his hair as he raised one hand to his head, pressing the edge of his palm to his temple with a soft groan in an attempt to vanish the slight nausea from his system. Blinking his eyes open and getting quickly adjusted to the bright sun, Legend let his gaze roam around. They seemed to be on the sandy beach of a small island, a house on a small hill to their left, a long wooden bridge to their right and a tall watch tower overlooking an endless ocean at their backs. 

The rest of the group was also getting their bearings and examining their surroundings. Time was helping Four to his feet and Wild brushed the sand off the back of his colorful tunic, the small hero still looking quite dazed from the shift. The others were gazing around when Wind suddenly jumped and turned to them with a huge grin.

“We're on Outset! This is my home! You’ll finally see my Hyrule!” The young sailor exclaimed.

He has talked about his home before, proudly telling stories about his adventures with the pirates, playing with his sister on the beach and the taste of his grandma’s delicious soup. While they all knew that Wind lived in a Hyrule that was made completely of ocean and scattered islands, actually being here in a tiny island surrounded with nothing but water as far as the eye could see finally made it feel real.

Wind started leading them across the wooden bridge towards his house as he explained it actually wasn’t called Hyrule anymore but the Great Sea. Legend let himself get lost in the endless blue of the ocean, their collective steps resounding on the wood planks of the bridge, as his mind started drifting to another particular island. 

“Quite the beautiful view, isn’t it?” Sky’s voice by his side snapped him out of his thoughts.

Legend turned to the Skyloftian, who had a serene smile on his face, and forced a half smile of his own. “Ah, yes. It’s nice.” 

“This is my first time on an island. Well, an island that’s actually surrounded by water, I mean.” Sky laughed. “What about you?”

“I’ve been on islands before.” The veteran answered with a shrug.

“I shouldn’t be surprised, I guess. You’re the most traveled after all.” The caped hero scanned the other half of the island as they got off the bridge. 

Both observed as Wind happily showed them around the place, greeting a few locals that were walking around. 

The group soon reached a house with a bright red mailbox at the front and a nice terrace to the side overlooking the beach.

“This is my house,” Wind explained as he reached the door, “it's not that big but we should all fit in just fine.” The young teen didn’t bother knocking on his own home before walking right in. In the far back of the house a small girl sat at a table scribbling away on parchment before turning towards them.

“Big brother! You’re back!” She ran into Wind’s arms with a brilliant smile only rivaled by the one on her brother’s own face. “I missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too, Aryll.” He hugged her tight before letting go. “Where’s grandma?”

“Oh, she went to visit Uncle Sturgeon a while ago. Should be back soon.” Aryll explained. “Are these the other heroes you’ve been traveling with?”

After introductions were made Wind, Aryll, Sky, Time and Twilight sat down at the table and started chatting while the rest of the Links decided to look around the house. Legend saw Warriors and Hyrule talking between themselves while examining some picture frames on the wall and decided to check on them.

The wall was plastered with pictographs of Wind and Aryll at varying ages. Wind and Aryll on a small raft, Wind and Aryll playing on the beach with a piglet, Wind climbing a palm tree, Aryll feeding a flock of seagulls, Wind making a weird face with Aryll laughing in the background, Wind and Aryll huddled together, asleep. 

“Oh no, that’s so cute.” Hyrule snorted and clamped a hand to his mouth, the other pointing to a picture. It depicted a much younger and embarrassed looking Wind, his hair a mess full of tiny ponytails, braids and beads, a proud looking Aryll hugging his head from behind. She was clearly the one responsible for what happened to young Wind’s hair.

Legend snickered and Warriors let out a bark of laughter as he turned to the ones sitting at the table. “Hey sailor, you got some really nice pictures here!”

Wind stood and started walking towards them with a smirk, completely unaffected by the captain’s teasing tone. “Whatever you saw on that wall I wear like a badge of honor!” He jokingly braged. 

“Oh really? How about you tell me about _this_ badge of honor then? There is no way you are related to someone as pretty as this lady here!” Warriors grinned down at the sailor, his thumb pointing back to the frames on the wall.

Legend felt confused for a moment before he turned back to the pictures on the wall, focusing on the ones which the taller man was pointing at. While the great majority of pictures were of the young sailor and his sister only, the ones at the top were definitely not. 

There was a picture of a middle-aged couple, a light haired man and a slightly darker haired woman holding a messy haired toddler and a bright eyed baby. There were a few more pictures of said couple and some other people. That’s not what Warriors was referring to, though. There, at the very top, were two pictures that punched all the air out of Legend’s lungs. 

In one, a beautiful young woman with a flowing dress, a hibiscus flower in her long hair, a bright smile on her face and a small girl sitting on her lap, playing with the woman’s diamond-shaped pendant necklace. The picture had no color, just like the rest, and she looked a bit older than he remembered, but there was no doubt in his mind. It was Marin. 

The other picture was even more convincing. It was ripped and water damaged, clearly seen much better days, but it showed the same young woman, looking the exact same as in his memories, at a seaside cliff, pointing at the distance, expression bright, expression full of happiness. 

Legend's mind raced with recognition. Of course he recognized it. He still had his own copy of the picture, tucked securely in his bag, in perfect condition, his own presence in it not obscured by water damage like the one on the wall. 

Wind gasped loudly with fake indignation, making the veteran's eyes snap in his direction. "Excuse you? That pretty lady is MY grandma. She's holdin' my mama right there so you better believe I got those beautiful genes in me". 

Legend could swear he felt his heart stop. He was frozen in place, reeling with all the new information coming at him in ways he could never predict. He felt his limbs slowly starting to numb, his fingers cold, his stomach twisting itself into knots, his breath starting to increase in speed as he tried to keep calm, to rationalize. 

Just because she looked like Marin didn't mean it was actually her. Sure, the framed picture looked like the one he owns but his likeness is missing from it. Maybe he wasn't obscured by the water damage but was never there in the first place. Maybe it's special for a different reason. They all have come to the conclusion that they share many similarities between their worlds. Wind is from a completely different timeline, it's only logical. This is simply a person that looks like Marin, but isn't her. That's definitely what this is. Right? 

Who is he kidding.

Hyrule brushed against his arm as he signaled a picture in the wall and brought him back again into the casual conversation still happening around him. Legend noticed how everyone in the house gathered around the wall while he had been lost in thought. 

"-quite damaged." He wasn't able to hear the start of Hyrule's sentence. 

"Oh, yeah. When grandma was young, she and her dad traveled around the Great Sea a lot. That picture is from her travels." Wind started to explain. 

"Grandma met grandpa during those travels!" Aryll added excitedly. 

Legend realized then that he was visibly shaking. He was hyperventilating. He could hear his heart pumping in his ears, the loud rushing sound drowning the conversation around him. He felt cold all over and his limbs were now completely numb. It was only by force of will that his knees hadn't buckled yet. He was having a damn panic attack over this. 

His thoughts were screaming inside his head one over the other until it was unrecognizable noise. He felt like he was drowning. After what felt like hours and seconds at the same time, a hand touched Legend's shoulder and he jumped, turning to see Four and Hyrule giving him concerned looks."Hey, are you okay? What's wrong?" The brunette asked. 

The panicking hero looked around himself and saw everyone's worried eyes locked on him, previous conversation completely forgotten. 

"Do you need to sit down? Should I bring you a chair?" Time questioned softly. 

Legend tried to speak but the words got stuck on his throat. After sharing a look with Wind, Sky took one of Legend's hands and slowly pulled him further into the house before making him sit on the low chair by the furnace. 

"S-Sorry. I just- It's just-" He tried to explain. The Skyloftian kneeled in front of him and placed his hand on his chest. "It's okay. You don't have to explain yourself. Come on, just breathe with me. Everything's okay." 

After a few minutes of controlled breathing, the shaking stopped and the numbness started to leave his limbs. 

"T-Thanks..." Legend breathed out. 

"Of course." The other smiled softly before letting go of his hand. "Would you like to talk about it?" 

The sitting hero shook his head and looked down to his hands, curled on his lap.

"Very well. If you need anything you can count on us, you know that, right?" Sky reminded him kindly as he stood. 

Legend nodded, a quiet thanks left his lips once more before the caped hero stepped away. Looking around he noticed everyone else had the same idea of giving him some space, with Wind, Sky and Hyrule the only ones close enough for conversation, the rest being at a distance or in the next room over. Twilight was even standing in the perfect angle that blocked the wall with the pictographs from Legend's sight. They may not know exactly what set him off, but they had the idea that it was something on that wall. 

"Are... Are you feeling better? Would you like some water?" Wind asked with some hesitation from the stool beside him. 

Legend took a deep breath before he nodded. "I'm b-better... I'll take you up on t-that water. Thanks." Legend threw the young teen a quick smirk that made him look more calm than he actually felt. 

After sipping on some water and doing his best to relax, he finally felt like he regained control of his body. He wasn't panicking anymore but knew that it was only a matter of time before he had to confront what he learned from the siblings and their family pictures. Grandma had to return eventually. 

As if reading his mind, the front door creaked open. Wind immediately turned and then walked off to the entrance to greet who was most likely his grandmother returning home. 

His heart started racing again. He could hear her voice, so different yet so similar, as she greeted her returning grandson. He could hear her as she approached, as the rest of his group introduced themselves to her. She appeared on the corner, gray-haired but smiling a familiar smile, a particular red diamond-shaped pendant still hanging from her neck. 

He wanted to look away. He wanted to brace himself for as long as possible until she noticed him and either confirmed or dispelled his suspisions. But he couldn't. He couldn't look away as she neared. He couldn't look away as she pleasantly shook Hyrule's hand in greeting. And he couldn't look away as she finally turned to him. 

She immediately stopped in her tracks and stared at him. Surprised eyes quickly roamed his face, his hair, his frame, before she schooled her expression. But that was all he needed to see. She recognized him. It was her. 

"You must be Legend. I'm glad to finally put a face to your name. It's nice to meet you." She smiled and walked to him but didn't approach completely like with the rest. 

He was dumbstruck. He probably looked like he'd seen a ghost if the other Links confused faces were any indication. He blinked once, twice, before he swallowed the lump clogging his throat. 

"M-Marin...?" Legend rasped.

Her pleasant smile faltered before she closed her eyes and sighed. She opened them with an air of resignation and walked to the small stool by his side, sitting down. 

She smiled softly at him, "When my grandson explained his situation and described all of you in his letters, I wondered if you would be among them, Link."

"It looks like I was right. I was hoping to spare you the burden if that was the case, though." She confessed with a small and humorless chuckle. "How did you know?" 

"The pictures. O-on your wall." His voice wobbled. He felt his chest pressing in on itself, a tight knot on his throat and a telltale pressure behind his eyes. He couldn't help it. All his emotions, all his regrets, everything crashed over him and spilled. For the first time after what felt like an eternity, Legend started crying. He started sobbing desperately, slowly curling in on himself. 

The Links were in shock. No one understood what was happening. Why was Legend crying? How did Legend even know Wind's grandmother in the first place? 

They didn't know how to react to one of their own completely losing their composure like this. Some instinctively stepped forward before immediately halting themselves. Some stepped back. Some looked away. 

Wind and Aryll shared a worried look before discreetly pushing the rest back into the other room. There was no way they could stay inside the house without intruding. The place wasn't big enough to muffle all sound, Legend's sobs echoing in everyone's sharp ears. Leaving the house for now was the best choice. 

"Oh no. No no no, Link...!" Marin got closer and hugged him tight, trying to soothe him, as her eyes started to water. The crying hero was clutching himself as she rocked him, one hand on the back of his head and the other rubbing circles on his back. 

"I-I... I t-thought... " Legend tried to explain, "I thought t-that... that I had killed e-everyone. I thought I had killed y-you..! I messed everything up...! I made- the island d-disappear. I thought you were g-gone forever- I... I..." 

Tears ran down her face as she hushed him softly, "No, Link, you didn't kill anyone." 

"I-I made the island disappear! I made everything disappear..." 

"Look at me. Link, look at me. You didn't kill anyone, okay? You saved us." He blinked furiously as she turned his face towards her own. "We were trapped and monsters were running lose. You couldn't possibly keep the whole island monster-free indefinitely by yourself, the Wind Fish had to wake up. And it did. And you saved us. We woke up too. Just like you did." 

She wiped the tears off his face as his crying slowed. "I swear you didn't kill anyone. I'm here, aren't I? Those that had to wake, woke up, like we did. And those that were part of the dream simply come back again whenever the Wind Fish sleeps. You didn't mess up, okay?" 

He screwed his eyes shut and nodded. Marin let his forehead rest on her shoulder and he let everything out of his system. Legend uncoiled his arms from his torso and wrapped them around her instead. 

Legend wasn't sure how long he sat there, crying his heart out in Marin's arms, but he was bone tired. He felt spent, both emotionally and physically. He still felt conflicted about everything. On one hand, he didn't kill anyone. Marin was alive and well. On the other hand, she has already lived her whole life without him. Formed a family of her own. 

Slowly disentangling himself from her, he sat back and wiped his face with his sleeve. He looked up at her just to see her already watching him with fond eyes. He couldn't help the embarrassed heat that flooded his face. The veteran hero sat straighter and cleared his throat, "Thank you.... I'm happy to see you again. Even like this." 

Marin laughed out loud and he realized his words. "I mean-! In this situation! N-Not you! This dimension, time hoping situation! I didn't mean to imply-!" Legend tried to amend awkwardly. 

"I know." She interrupted. "I'm happy to see you again too. Even in this situation. Even as an old woman. Even after so long." 

He smiled before looking down at his lap, expression smoothing to blank. "How do you know all that? About the island. How did you even get to Koholint?" 

Marin took a deep breath before she started her story. How she and Tarin, her father, lived on the Great Sea, island hopping for as long as she could remember. Traveling the open waters and meeting new people at every island. She and her father loved the sea. Her mother also loved the sea, before she passed as Marin was born. It's how she got her name, from her mother’s love of the sea. Tarin never blamed her. They both lived life at their fullest, traveling the waters her mother loved so. That was, until they were caught by surprise in a cyclone. Their ship was wrecked. She was sure that was it for them. But then Tarin and Marin, father and daughter, woke up on an island they had never heard of before.

Koholint was a beautiful place with welcoming people, but both knew something wasn't right. They knew the Great Sea like the back of their hand. They weren't near any populated islands, definitely not close enough to wash up in one. Not to mention there was no Koholint Island in the Great Sea. Nobody on the island even knew about the Great Sea. They tried to leave a few times, of course. They were sea savvy, they could find their way back no problem. Except there was a problem. They couldn't leave. No matter what direction they sailed to, they couldn't leave the island behind. No matter how much it seemed like they were moving, how strong the wind on their sails was, how fast the water rushed against their ship, Koholint would not disappear from the horizon. They were stuck within a 10 mile radius of the island. 

Tarin decided it was fine. Koholint was a good island, with good people. It'd make a nice place to settle down. But Marin was still curious. She wanted to know what was going on in the island. So she traveled, investing, inquiring, and searching until she got a good grasp on the situation. The island was a dream. The Wind Fish was the ocean deity that created the island in its sleep. It's inhabitants were a combination of its creations and real people who ended up lost at sea at the right time. She wasn't sure who was who, though. Marin discovered that people slowly forgot their origin the more they stayed on the island. She wasn't particularly fond of this detail. 

There wasn't much Tarin or Marin could do other than wait for the Wind Fish to wake up. It was in this waiting that Marin realized something else. Time didn't pass. Not really. Papahl and Mamasha's children didn't grow, even after years of living in Koholint. She realized her father was starting to forget before she too fell completely in the dream's grasp. Eventually things started to change. Monsters started appearing on the island. The once peaceful island and its inhabitants were now plagued with dangerous monsters. 

And then, one day, Marin found someone passed out on Toronbo Shores. A handsome young man in green, a shield strapped to his back and a pretty pink streak in his hair. It looked like he was struck by lightning. She took care of him until he was back to health. 

Both of them got along tremendously. He was nice and courageous. He started traveling around the island, ridding it of the monsters that plagued it. He helped others in every way he could yet always managed to have time for her. They spent a lot of time together, talking, exploring, singing, playing, dancing, dreaming. 

She loved him, he loved her, and it was all Marin could ever ask for. They knew each other for a few months short of a year but both of them knew they wanted no one else. 

But the dream had to end. No matter how many the young man slayed, the only way to rid Koholint of the monsters permanently was by waking the Wind Fish. And he did. And the island started fading. And Marin and Tarin woke up once again, this time floating on a piece of their wrecked ship, adrift on the Great Sea. The only things they had left from Koholint were the things they carried on themselves and their now complete memories. 

Father and daughter stayed castaway at sea for two days without resources until treasure hunters rescued them. They kept traveling for a while, exploring and island hopping like they used to do, before finally deciding to settle down on Outset Island, a beautiful place with welcoming people. 

Legend took a moment in silence to process the story that was passed on to him. 

"Your experience sure sounds familiar..." He attempted. 

"Isn't it?" Marin smiled delicately. 

"I suppose you found someone and got married, started your own family on Outset after settling down. If I'm remembering correctly, Aryll mentioned you met her grandfather on your travels." The young man guessed with a small, casual shrug but a tentative question in his eyes. 

The woman's expression shifted into something he couldn't discern, "Not exactly, no. I never got married. I didn't find anyone before settling on Outset." 

"What? But then...? Didn't you meet Wind and Aryll's grandfather before settling on Outset? Is Aryll wrong?" He wondered why she didn't give him a straight answer. 

"She isn't wrong. I did meet their grandfather during my travels. I simply wasn't able to marry him before we parted ways." Marin said with bittersweet finality, looking directly into his eyes. 

Oh. 

_Oh._

Legend didn't know it was possible to feel all his blood rush into his face while feeling it rush out of it at the same time. 

"Y-You mean I'm... they're... they're my...?" 

The sun was setting when Wind and the rest finally returned home a few hours later. 

To their surprise, Grandma was already cooking dinner for all of them, the veteran helping obediently. Legend wasn't crying anymore. He was quiet and pensive but looked strangely at ease. Peaceful. 

Wind would constantly feel the older hero's eyes on him during the rest of the night, but if he looked back, eyes would be averted, never making contact. The young teen noticed Legend's eyes would also linger on his sister. He didn't know what to make of that. 

Legend was acting strangely, and the others noticed as well. Nobody dared ask what had happened, but he seemed fine now, so they let it be. He was unsurprisingly the first to go for the night, leaving up the stairs to the small loft that served as a second floor.

They all eventually settled down for the night, half of the Links in the main room and the other half in the second floor. 

The young sailor woke up on his own bed for the first time in months. The slight smell of salt inside the house was familiar and comforting. Sky, Hyrule, Four and Aryll were the only ones still asleep. Grandma was preparing a grand breakfast with the help of Wild and Time. 

"Good morning, dear. Would you please take these outside?" His grandmother greeted him with a kiss on the forehead and an armful of cutlery. 

"Outside?" 

"It's a nice day outside and your grandmother offered the terrace as a more spacious area we could use to eat." Time explained. 

Wild looked up from his vegetable slicing towards the window. "Twilight and Warriors should be done moving the tables and chairs." 

Twilight and Warriors were indeed done moving everything when Wind arrived with the cutlery. Both took a bit of the pile on his arms after a quick getting. "Where's Legend? He's already up, isn't he?" He asked the older pair as he started setting the plates on the tables. 

The ranch hand pointed down the side of the terrace to the small and secluded ending of the beach by the house, where the previously mentioned hero sat on the sand, staring out to the sea. "He's been down there since I woke up." 

"I wonder what's up with him." The captain didn't look up as he kept arranging the wooden cups, "I asked your grandma about last night but she only replied that it was something for Legend to share." 

Twilight just shook his head, "Obviously it's something only for him to share. Did you really expect Wind's grandmother to spill his secrets when he isn't around?" 

"Well, of course not!" Warriors' hands flew up, a cup still held in one hand. "But he was literally sobbing his guts out yesterday, I just wanted to know if he's alright." 

"I think simply asking if he's alright would have been enough." Wind said, earning a chuckle from Twilight. 

"You could always ask him personally." Came a voice to their left. 

The three heroes turned around to find Four, finally awake, walking towards them with a big bowl of rice mixed with sliced vegetables in his arms. 

"Grandma needs more hands in the kitchen to carry everything out." The smith set the bowl down on the middle of one of the tables before glancing at Wind. "Why don't you go talk to him? The food will be ready in about 10 minutes anyways." 

The sailor nodded before heading down to the beach. Passing by the canoes and under the terrace, Wind soon had Legend in his sight. The pink haired hero was leaning back on his arms as he stared at the rolling waves, wind blowing softly. 

"Legend?" 

The other turned and observed him for a moment as he approached. "Hey, Wind." 

"Hey." Wind greeted back before sitting down by Legend. "You doin' okay?" 

"Ah. Yeah. I'm fine." He turned his eyes back to the waves. "Just... thinking. Getting my thoughts in order and all that, you know." 

The hero in blue kept his gaze on the older hero. He really seemed better now. Strangely calm and contemplative, but better. Still, he couldn't help but remember the heart-wrenching cries their usually guarded comrade had let loose so freely. 

When Legend started panicking, the first thing that crossed his mind as the reason were his family pictures. Sure, they were talking about his grandma's pictographs in particular, but pictures of his parents were all around too. Wind knew there was a reason the others rarely talked about parents or family. The spirit of the hero wasn't the only thing they had in common. He may have made peace with his parents passing years ago, but that didn't mean the others did. What if they even looked similar? 

But then Legend recognized Grandma, and she recognized him. That made no sense, they all were from different eras! That didn't stop the dimensional rifts in Warriors' Hyrule. Wind talked about the Great Sea all the time, if Legend knew of the place he would have mentioned it. Except Legend never gave details of his adventures. A few he didn't even mention at all. 

Could he have somehow ended on the Great Sea at some point in the past? On Outset? That would explain how his Grandma knew him. Maybe he didn't react that way to the pictures because they reminded him of someone, but because he knew the people in the pictures. If Legend knew his Grandma, but not him, it wouldn't be strange if Legend actually knew his parents. 

That wouldn't explain the horrible sobs that shook his frame, though. 

The young man at his side must have felt his intense gaze, for he turned to look at him. “So. When will we set sail?”

“Set sail?” Wind’s mind crashed to a confused halt by the sudden question.

“Yeah. We aren’t going through these dark portals for vacational purposes, remember?” The veteran answered in that knowing tone they were used to. “We need to find the infected monsters, and considering this place is a huge ocean, we’d need to set sail soon.”

“Oh, right. We actually talked about that yesterday. No one on the island has heard anything about monster attacks. The mailman is due to arrive tomorrow morning, and since the rito are in charge of the mail in the Great Sea, it’s best to wait for him and ask. The rito travel around everywhere so Quill is bound to know something.”

“When did you talk about this?” An eyebrow raised.

“Ah... It was when we left the house. When you were.... You know...” The teen finished awkwardly, looking down as he kicked around some sand.

Legend paused before looking away. They stayed silent for a moment, both thinking back to the unusual incident.

"Look. I know yesterday was... weird, but I'm fine now. Things have just changed a bit... or a lot, actually. It's..." He sighed as he dragged a hand down his face. “I will tell you, okay? Just not right now, not yet.” 

“It’s fine, Legend, you don’t have to tell us.”

“No.” The veteran looked straight at him with fire in his eyes. “I have to tell you. I want to. Soon. Just. Not yet.”

“Hoy! Brother!” 

The two heroes turned towards the voice. Aryll was waving down at them from the terrace, what looked to be a bun clutched tightly in her moving hand. 

“Breakfast is ready! Come up here!”

“Well, let’s get going, squirt.” Legend ruffled the younger’s hair as he stood. With a small protest and a hand swatting the other’s limb away, Wind followed along towards the house.

During breakfast, Legend seemed to be back to normal. He bickered with Warriors’ over the last meat bun and joked around with Hyrule and Wild. He even appeared to be in a good mood, his snark softer and friendlier than usual. 

After helping clean everything, it was decided to hang out at the beach. Twilight took to teaching Sky, Hyrule and Wild how to canoe, the rest swimming around or sunbathing on the sand. 

Wind eventually proposed a competition to see who could catch more crabs, which led to Wild immediately jumping from his canoe into the water, splashing everyone in a 3-feet radius, and declaring that he would definitely win as soon as he resurfaced.

Warriors, Wild, and surprisingly, Time joined Wind on his crab snatching competition. Legend and Sky decided to help Aryll build a sand castle for the caught crabs while Hyrule, Twilight and Four cheered on the contesting heroes.

The competition was a fun and loud spectacle, and a few local children joined in the cheering. More than one finger was caught between small pincers and some swift crabs managed to escape in the scuffle. And while the champion was good at catching crabs, he was no match for the small sailor, who easily caught double the amount his companion had.

With the end of the contest, the participating heroes started waddling out of the water. Everyone laughed as the champion grumbled for his loss, still claiming the younger teen must have cheated somehow. 

The considerable amount of tiny crabs crawling through the sand castle must have finally become noticeable, for a pair of seagulls landed by it. To Legend’s surprise, instead of pecking at the fleeing crustaceans, the seagulls cooed at Aryll. The young girl laughed in delight as she pet them.

“Oh, the little birds came to greet you again!” Sky chuckled at the sight. “They really have imprinted on you.”

“Didn’t know you got along with seagulls.” The veteran commented with a small smile.

“Yep! I have always liked them, and granny taught me how to befriend them when I was very small.”

“Oh, did she now?” Legend said with a glint in his eyes.

“Aryll took us to her lookout yesterday. The roof even has a few Seagull nests.” The other hero explained, “They all really like her.”

“Aryll’s lookout?”

The young girl gasped suddenly, her eyes widening at Legend. “I wasn’t able to show you yesterday! You’re the only one that hasn’t seen it yet!” She grabbed his arm and smiled, “Would you like to come see the gulls at my lookout?”

“I’d love to.” He laughed in surprise as the small girl heaved him to his feet.

“Do you wanna come too, Sky?” She asked.

“It’s okay, you two go.” He stood and brushed his pants to get rid of the loose sand. “I’ll stay and make sure these two don’t get into too much trouble.” He said in a fake, loud whisper, pointing back where Wind and Wild were slinking away with a bucket while the others were distracted with the local children. 

With that assurance, Aryll started pulling Legend away towards the island’s watchtower, but not before he could catch a glimpse of Sky’s face, who was looking straight at him as they left, a knowing smile on his lips. You’re a softie, the Skyloftian’s expression clearly said, not unkindly. He snapped his head forward ignoring the slight burn of his cheeks. So what if he was?

They soon arrived at the watchtower, self-proclaimed Aryll’s Lookout by the child herself, and easily made their way up. A nice breeze ruffled their clothes as he looked around. The whole village was visible from up here, it even allowed the pink haired hero to see the small forest atop the mountain he had previously missed. 

Just like his Skyloftian companion had mentioned, there were a few nests settled on the tower’s roof beams, a couple of gulls huddled together peered down at the arriving pair.

The young girl sat by the tower’s northmost handrail and patted down the spot beside her in invitation. She introduced all the seagulls to him and even offered some of her bait to him, making the gulls more approachable for the foreign hylian. She happily told him stories about the gulls and the island, and in turn, Legend offered some tales of his own. 

After what was one or two hours, the two sat in a comfortable silence, watching the horizon and the birds lazily gliding in the skies. Aryll eventually fell into a light dooze, a gull still cradled gently in her arms. It was nice. 

He wasn’t gonna lie, when she, Aryll, his granddaughter, offered to hang out, he couldn’t accept fast enough. Not after finding out their true relationship. They won’t say on Outset for long, he has to make use of the time he has. The thought of revealing his newly discovered status as Wind and Aryll’s biological grandfather hasn’t left his head since early that day. His mind was too scrambled yesterday to even fathom telling anyone of this unforeseen outcome, but since he opened his eyes at the break of dawn, the thought hasn’t left. Even during breakfast, at the beach, and retelling stories to the small girl at his side, a nagging voice at the back of his head kept whispering for him to do something about it. 

Legend knows revealing this kind of thing was gonna be weird. He isn’t some old ancestor, a person they wouldn’t have been able to meet normally anyways. He is their grandfather. Someone they should have known since birth, but have only heard vague stories about. But he was here now.

It was the sharp cold of the wind on his face that made him notice his tears. He didn’t notice when they started but they would not stop. He wasn’t sure why he was crying anymore. Was it sadness for the missed opportunities? Or relief for the new chance he’s been given? Probably both.

“Hey, guys! Time is-” Legend flinched and snapped his head towards the voice. Wind suddenly appeared at the tower deck’s entrance, frozen halfway up the ladder at the sight of his tears. The sudden sound and movement awoke the resting bird, who fled in a whirlwind of flapping wings, in turn waking the girl on which it previously rested. 

“Huh?” Startled, Aryll looked around as the gull flew off, stopping as her eyes landed on the person by her side. The crying hero wiped his face but he knew it was too late. They already saw him. It’s not like he could make the tears stop, anyways.

The young sailor approached carefully, “Legend?” He muttered softly, kneeling down by his side and setting a hand on his shoulder. 

Legend let out a wet chuckle but stayed silent otherwise, a fresh wave of tears running down his cheeks, a hand covering his eyes. 

“Hey.” He eventually looks at the teen by his side, his grandson. “I’m okay.”

“You don’t look okay...”

“I guess I don’t.” Looking at the horizon, he felt his tears slow down. “Can I ask you two something?”

Wind nodded and both siblings scooted a bit closer, paying close attention to the young man between them.

The veteran took a deep breath and held it for a moment before letting it out. 

“I spoke with Ma- with you grandma yesterday. We had met before, as you all have probably guessed by now. But before I tell you how, I want to ask you a question.”

He felt both sit straighter, gaze more intense. 

“What do you want to know?” The girl asked curiously.

“That old damaged picture on your wall, what do you know about it?”

“Granny’s picture?”

“Yes.” He nodded.

“Well, like Link said before, it’s from the time back when Grandma traveled the Great Sea with Great Grampa Tarin.”

“Do you know a lot about her travels?”

“More or less.” Wind said, “She has told us many stories before, but she never gave us much information about her last journey, the one she got that pictograph from.”

“We only know it’s where she met grandpa, but that is all she ever shares. She has never even told us his name.” Aryll pouted. “She’ll tell us when we’re older, is what she always says.”

Legend hummed in thought. “Well, it is a very complicated story.”

“Wait, she told you about it?!” The young sailor asked, surprised and a bit offended.

“More or less,” Legend laughed humorlessly. “I already knew part of it, surprisingly. As I know your grandmother, I actually know your grandfather too.”

“Really?!” “Wait, wait, wait, are you serious?!” Both siblings exclaimed.

“Really.” He laughed at their expressions, rubbing away the last traces of his tears. “I didn’t know they were your grandparents until she told me, though.” 

“The old picture in your wall. The reason it’s so important to her is because of something that is missing on it now. It has been damaged for a long time, decades, but before that, there was someone else present in the picture along with her. Someone else was with her on that cliff. That someone is who made the picture special for her. Your grandfather.”

Legend reached a hand to the pouch clasped to his belt and searched in it, procuring a small, brown-toned picture in perfect condition. He took it carefully with both hands and held it by his lap, allowing the other two to see it clearly.

The picture showed a cliff by the sea, a young couple at the top. The young woman, a flower in her windswept hair, Marin, was pointing at the distance, expression full of happiness as she looked back at the young man, a floppy hat on his head and long bangs fluttering in the wind, a big smile on his face. Legend.

The two siblings silently stared at the picture in awe for what felt like hours.

“If the one on the picture is our grandpa, then you’re....” Aryll spoke softly, incredulously, after a few minutes, her eyes not leaving the parchment on his hands.

Wind, still speechless, turned towards him, his face a mix for shock and wonder.

“You are our grandfather...”

Legend, with red rimmed eyes and a soft smile, nodded.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, look at that! Exactly 7k words. Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it.
> 
> This idea came to me one night. It was a mix of a few things: "what if Marin was actually lost at sea too instead of a dream" and "how can I make Legend blood-related to another hero that isn't Hyrule" ended up in this. Also, for fic context reasons and to give Legend some breathing time between adventures, he would have been around 18 during Koholint, his 4th adventure. Adding time before and after ALBW, his 5th, he would be in his early 20s during LU.
> 
> I'm still not 100% satisfied with this but I'll leave it be for now. If I ever make a better version I'll update this. I have some other fluffy ideas to explore with Wind and Legend's relationship so I may eventually make a series or something. If you'd like that or have any ideas, feel free to leave a comment!


End file.
